Geoffrey C. Ward

The lives of three of the most towering figures of the 20th century—and of American history—are on full display in Ken Burns’ latest documentary, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. “No other family has ever touched so many lives,” the documentary tells us, and their stories have become the stuff of legend: Theodore, the sickly child who grows up to become the Rough Rider, storming into the presidency and defining America’s new role both at home and around the world; Franklin, the pampered son of wealth who overcomes crippling disease and rises to lead the nation through two of its greatest calamities; and Eleanor, who triumphs over her own fears and self-doubts to become a champion of the downtrodden, and perhaps…